Papermaking machine for making corrugated paper



Sept. 10, 1968 w. ZINK 3,401,077

PAPERMAKING MACHINE FOR MAKING CORRUGATED PAPER Filed May 21, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet l FIG.2.

v -Iii Sept. 10, 1968 w, z 3,401,077

PAPERMAKING MACHINE FOR MAKING CORRUGATED PAPER Filed May 21, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 PIC-3.9.

F l G U 4 4 FIG. 8.

SPUR HELICAL s un HELICAL SPUR uaucm. SPUR IS/Q lei g n g l8 l9 20 2l/ 7 s s 4 a 2 smeossms was TRAVEL I UNIT FIG. 3.

W. ZINK Sept. 10, 1968 PAPERMAKING MACHINE FOR MAKING CORRUGATED PAPER 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May 21, 1965 vdE w. ZINK 3,401,077

PAPERMAKING MACHINE FOR MAKING CORRUGATED PAPER Sept. 10, 1968 Filed May 21, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 United States Patent PAPERMAKING MACHINE FOR MAKING CURRUGATED PAPER Walter Zink, Sanborn, N.Y., assignor to Kimberly- Clark Corporation, Neenah, Wis., a corporation of Delaware Filed May 21, 1965, Ser. No. 457,638 3 Claims. (Cl. 162117) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLQSURE A multi-ply paper product in which the plies have corrugations in the form of spaced segments extending in substantially different directions in alternate plies to prevent nesting of the plies and an embossing apparatus for providing this paper product including a series of embossing roll pairs with each roll having a series of peripheral grooves and with the teeth of consecutive roll pairs in the series extending in different directions with respect to the roll axes.

My invention relates to papermaking machinery and more particularly to embossing apparatus for paper sheets.

It has previously been proposed to pass paper sheet material between opposed toothed rolls so that the teeth in meshing with each other provide corrugations in the material. Plies of such corrugated material laid on each other would provide a product of increased thickness; however, due to the fact that the plies may be expected to nest with each other, with the corrugations of one ply entering the corrugations of the next ply, the high bulk that might be realized is not obtained.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved product of sheet material which has been embossed to produce corrugations in the material, with the corrugations extending in different directions in adjacent plies so that there can be no nesting of the corrugations, in order to obtain a high bulk cushioning blanket composed of the plies of embossed sheet material laid on each other; and it is also an object to provide improved apparatus and method for making such a product.

The invention consists of the novel constructions, arrangements, devices and methods to be hereinafter described and claimed for carrying out the above stated objects and such other objects as will be apparent from the following description of preferred forms of the invention, illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view of appara tus for supporting paper web rolls and for embossing the webs drawn from these rolls;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view on an enlarged scale of one of the assemblies included in the apparatus of FIG. 1 for supporting a pair of the paper rolls and including also a schematic showing of an assembly of a pair of embossing rolls;

FIG. 3 is a shcematic view of the various pairs of embossing r-olls included in the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are side elevational views of a pair of embossing rolls of the spur type included in the embossing apparatus;

FIGS. 6 and 7 are side elevational views of another pair of embossing rolls of the helical type also included in the embossing apparatus;

FIG. 8 is an end elevational view of one of the embossing roll assemblies;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on line 99 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary side elevational view of one of the embossing rolls of one pair and parts of another roll of another pair positioned directly behind the first 3,401,077 Patented Sept. 10, 1968 roll or downstream in the direction of Web travel, so as to show the staggered relationship between the rolls; and

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary perspective view of a multiply product embossed according to the teachings of the invention.

Like characters of reference designate like parts in the several views.

Referring now to the drawings, the illustrated paper converting apparatus comprises seven pairs 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21 of embossing rolls (see FIG. 3). As will be hereinafter described, each of these pairs of embossing rolls have three tissue webs passing between them, and these webs are combined after passing between the rolls so as to form a sandwich or multi-ply product of 21 webs which travel in the direction indicated by the arrow 22. The roll pairs 15, 17, 19 and 21 are of the spur type, and the roll pairs 16, 18 and 20 are of the helical type.

A pair of spur type rolls 23 and 24 are shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, and a pair of helical type rolls 25 and 26 are shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. The rolls 23 and 24 are substantially identical and interm'esh together, and each roll comprises a central shaft 27 and a plurality of gear segments a, b, c, a, e and f positioned in end-to-end relationship of the shaft 27 and held in place on the shaft 27 by means of nuts 28 disposed on opposite ends of the shaft 27. The segments a to f are each provided With spaced teeth 29 on its periphery, which extend parallel with the axis of the roll, and longitudinal valleys or grooves 30 separate the teeth (see FIG. 9). The teeth 29 of the various segments may be in alignment with each other for the complete length of the roll, but the teeth of adjacent segments are preferably staggered :as shown in FIG. 9. Each of the segments a to f is provided with a series of circumferential grooves 31 which divide the teeth 29 into corresponding circumferential rows; and the rows of teeth on the two rolls 23 and 24 intermesh when the rolls are in embossing positions.

The roll 25 is provided with segments g, h, i, j, k and l which correspond to the segments a to f in the roll 23 and which are held in place on a shaft 27 by means of nuts 28. Each of the segments g, z and k is provided with helical teeth 32 extending in one helical direction, and the segments h, j and l are provided with helical teeth 33 extending in the opposite direction. The teeth 32 and 33 are divided int-o circumferential rows by means of grooves 34.

The embossing roll illustrated in FIG. 7 intermeshes with the roll shown in FIG. 6 and includes segments m, n, 0, p, q and 2" which are disposed in end-to-end relationship on a shaft 27 The segments m, 0 and q are provided with teeth 35 that extend helically in one direction about the segments, and the segments n, p and r are provided with teeth 36 that extend helically in the other direction about the respective segments. The segments m to r are provided with circumferential grooves 37 about them so as to divide the teeth 35 and 36 into circumferential rows. The teeth 35 extend in such direciton as to mesh with the teeth 32, and the teeth 36 extend in such direction as to mesh with the teeth 33, the circumferential rows of teeth on the two rolls 25 and 26 being in aligment for such meshing when the rolls are in embossing positions.

Each pair of embossing rolls is supported in standards 38 (see FIG. 8). The lower roll of a pair, such as the roll 24 (assuming that this is a spur pair) has its shaft 27 on each end rotatably disposed in but otherwise fixed with respect to a standard 38, and the shaft 27 of the upper roll 23 is rotatably disposed on each end within a carriage 39 having a splined connection with a standard 38 so as to allow the roll 23 to move upwardly or downwardly within the standards on the two ends. The vertical position of the carriages 39 may be controlled by any suitable mechanism so as to change the amount of embossing between the two rolls 23 and 24, and the rolls 23 and 24 may be rotatably driven by any suitable driving mechanism (not shown).

The portion of the embossing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1 includes two pairs of embossing rolls, such as the roll pairs 20 and 21, and each roll pair is supported by standards 38 which are not illustrated in FIG. 1 for the sake of simplicity. A plurality of similar paper roll carrying assemblies 40, 40A, 40B and 40C are provided in the FIG. 1 apparatus from which the paper webs are drawn for embossing.

The assembly 40 is illustrated in FIG. 2 and includes a pair of arms 41 and a pair of arms 42 supporting paper roll A and B between them. A belt 43 is mounted on rolls 44, 45, 46 and 47; and the belt 43 contacts the paper rolls A and B and is itself preferably driven for the purpose of propelling the rolls A and B in web unwinding direction. The assembly 40 serves both the embossing roll pair 19 which is located upstream or opposite to the direction 22 of web travel with respect to the assembly 40 and also serves the embossing roll pair 20 located downstream or in the direction 22 of web travel with respect to assembly 40. A pair of guide rolls 48 and 49 are suitably supported, and a web 59 from the roll A travels around these rolls and between the rolls 23 and 24 of the roll pair 19.

The assembly 40 includes a roll 51, and the web 52 from the roll B travels beneath the roll 51. The embossing apparatus also includes a substantially horizontal belt 53, and the belt travels in the direction indicated by the arrows 54 so as to carry previously embossed webs along with it on its upper travel. The web 50 along with webs from previous rolls after passing between the rolls of the pair 19 are positioned onto the previously embossed webs by passing beneath a roll 55 located just above the upper travel of the belt 53.

The assembly 40A is generally similar to the assembly 40 and includes a belt 43, guide rolls 55 and 51, and arms 41 and 42 for the rolls C and D. The assembly 40A, however, is used in a somewhat different manner than the assembly 41), there being no guide rolls 48 and 49 used in connection with it, and all of the webs drawn from the rolls supported by the assembly 40A are embossed by the roll assembly 20 positioned downstream with respect to the assembly 49A. Webs 56 and 57 are drawn respectively from the rolls C and D, and these pass beneath the rolls 55 and 51 of the assembly 411A; and, together with the web 52 which travels from assembly 40 on the top of previously embossed webs, they pass between the embossing roll pair 20.

The assembly 40B is used in substantially the same manner as the assembly 40A, namely to supply an embossing roll pair 21 located downstream with respect to the assembly 4013, webs 58 and 59 being drawn respectively from the rolls E and F for supply to the embossing roll pair 21. The third web 60 passing between the embossing roll pair 21 passes around rolls 48 and 49 of assembly 40C and from thence to roll pair 21. After passage through the embossing roll pair 21, the three embossed webs pass beneath the roll 55 of the assembly 40C'onto the-previously embossed webs carried by the belt 53. A web 61 is drawn from the paper roll H and passes beneath the roll 51 of the assembly 40C so as to form a cover sheet for the webs which have been passed between the embossing roll pairs to 21.

The paper roll carrying assemblies for the embossing roll pairs and 21 in particular have been above described. As has been noted, the assembly 40 supplies one web to the preceding embossing roll pair 19, and assembly 40 is like the assembly 40C in this respect; and the two assemblies 40A and 40B each supply a pair of webs to a succeeding embossing roll pair. The other roll carrying assemblies (not shown) supplying webs to the other embossing roll pairs 15, 16, 17 and 18 are similar to the assemblies 40 and 40A. The first embossing roll pair 15 is supplied from an assembly similar to the assembly 40A preceding the roll pair 15 and an assembly similar to the assembly 40 following the roll pair 15, and the other embossing roll pairs are alternately supplied by two assemblies similar to the assemblies 40 and 40A or two assemblies similar to the assemblies 40A and 40B.

The various paper webs being passed through the various embossing roll pairs preferably have a slight tension on them both before and after passage through the roll pairs. This is accomplished by synchronously driving the belts 43 with respect to the carrier belt 53 for the embossed webs, the driving of the belts being such that the linear speeds of the belts 43 are slightly less than that of the belt 53.

It is particularly desirable in connection with the paper passed through the various embossing roll pairs 15 to 21 that nesting of thes bossed portions, and the grooves or valleys between these bossed portions, produced by the various embossing roll pairs be prevented, so that a high bulk product results. The embossing roll pairs 15 to 21 are, therefore, arranged to be alternately of the spur and helical type. The alternate embossing roll pairs 15, 17, 19 and 21, as previously pointed out, are of the spur type and each includes rolls 23 and 24; and the alternate embossing roll pairs 16, 18 and 20 are of the helical type type and each includes embossing rolls 25 and 26. The two embossing rolls of each embossing roll pair may be adjusted toward and away from each other to provide a desirable embossed pattern, as will be understood, by adjusting the carriage 39 within the standards of each roll pair, as necessary. The paper webs in passing between the various embossing roll pairs have the teeth 29, 32 and 35 separated by the grooves 31, 34 and 37 impressed into the paper so as to stretch the paper between the intermeshing teeth of the two rolls of the pair. Preferably each of the webs drawn between the embossing rolls is preliminarily creped, as from the Yankee drier drum of a papermaking machine, so that the paper has fine transverse crepes in it prior to being drawn between the embossing rolls; and the gear teeth 29, 32 and 35 stretch out these crepes in longitudinal strips coincident with circumferential rows of teeth between the grooves 31, 34 and 37, allowing the longitudinal strips of the paper between these rows of teeth to remain substantially unstretched.

Although the longitudinal grooves 30 of the various segments a to f of the spur type embossing rolls 23 and 24 may be in alignment from one end of the roll to the other, desirably the grooves 30, and therefore the teeth 29, are staggered from one segment to the other, as indicated in FIG. 9. It will be observed from this figure that the teeth 29 of the segment 0! are staggered with respect to the teeth 29 of the segment e.

It will be apparent that inasmuch as a pair of helical rolls 25 and 26 follows a pair of spur rolls 23 and 24, since the spur embossing rolls are alternately arranged with the helical embossing rolls, there can be no nesting or coincidence of the tooth provided bosses of the three sheets passed through the spur embossing rolls with respect to the three sheets either on top of or below the three sheets and passed between subsequent or previous helical embossing rolls in the apparatus, since the bosses extend across the webs in diflferent directions. As is apparent, the bosses produced by the spur tooth rolls 23 and 24 lie exactly transversely of an embossed web and the bosses produced by the rolls 25 and 26 are on lines that extend diagonally of the Web.

In order to obtain a still greater bulk condition, the grooves 31, 34 and 37 of alternate embossing roll pairs are offset from the direction of web movement with respect to each other, that is, the grooves 34 and 37 of the rolls 25 and 26 of the roll pair 16, for example, are oflset for the width of the grooves longitudinally of the rolls with respect to the grooves 31 of the rolls 23 and '24 of the spur roll pair 15, and the same offsetting of each of the other roll pairs 17 to 21 with respect to the preceding roll pair is also preferable. This staggering of the rolls 2'5 and 23 for the roll pairs 16 and is illustrated in FIG. 10.

Subsequently to the formation of the multi ply embossed product which is carried on the belt 53, the plies may be suitably fixed together so as to form a unitary product. This fixing may be done by glueing, if desired, or the plies may be embossed together, such as by peg-type embossing apparatus, for example that shown in the co-pending application of Palmer et al., Ser. No. 394,871, filed Sept. 8, 1964. The top cover sheet formed from the web 61 may be glued onto the top embossed ply if desired, and a corresponding bottom sheet can also be applied and glued onto the lowermost embossed ply. Although I have described the use of the embossing apparatus with three thicknesses of paper passing between the rolls of each embossing roll pair 15 to 21, it will be apparent that the embossing apparatus may be arranged so that a different number of thicknesses, such as a single thickness, pass through each embossing roll pair. A multi-ply paper product made according to the teachings of the present invention on the apparatus previously described is shown in FIG. 11 and comprises two paper sheets or plies 62 and 63. The sheet 63 overlies the sheet 62, and there are other sheets locate-d below the sheet 62 in the multi-ply product. The product of FIG. 11 may be made by utilizing only one web of paper for each of the embossing roll pairs 15 to 20, and the paper previously to being embossed by the rolls 23 to 26 has been creped off the Yankee drier drum of a palpermaking machine so as to have fine crepes 64 in it extending transversely of each web. A pair of spur embossing gears 23 and 24 has been used on. the sheet 63, and the teeth 29 have left raised bosses portions 65 in the sheet which are separated by corrugations 66. Relatively fiat but finely creped portions 67 of the paper exist between the bossed portions 65, and the portions 67 are in rows extending longitudinally of the web due to the fact that the teeth 29 are in rows. The undersheet 62 is the same as the oversheet 63 except that it has bosses 68 extending on lines 69 that lie slantwise and at angles with respect to the web and that correspond to the helical angles of the teeth 32, 33, 35 and 36 on the mating segments (h and n, for example) of the helical embossing rolls 25 and 26.

If lightweight tissue is used with the embossing apparatus, such as, for example, tissue paper having a basic weight of about 3 pounds per ream of 2,880 square feet, 2 or 3 plies of material are preferably run between companion embossing rolls. On the other hand, if heavier paper is used, such as, for example, paper of 6 pounds per ream of 2,880 square feet, preferably only a single ply is run as a time between the embossing rolls. Although, obviously, the width of the grooves 31, 34 and 37 may be changed, together with the width of the rows of gear teeth between the grooves, I have found that very satisfactory results are obtained if the grooves and the circumferential rows of teeth are about inch wide. The rows of teeth of the upper and lower embossing rolls of a pair, of course, intermesh during operation. The embossing rolls 23 to 26 may be made in various lengths; however, I have had very good results with such rolls in which the embossing segments taken together are 60 inches long. Although I have illustrated seven embossing rolls pairs 15 to 21 consecutively arranged, it will be apparent that this number may be increased or decreased depending on the thickness of the resulting product that is desired.

Advantageously, the use of alternate helical and spur embossing gears results in the bosses and corrugations in the embossed plies extending in different directions, so that there cannot be any nesting of adjacent plies. Thus, a high bulk paper product is provided which is satisfactory for blanketing fragile material, such as glassware, which it is desired to protect during shipment.

I wish it to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specific methods, constructions and devices shown and described, except only insofar as the claims may be so limited, as it will be understood to those skilled in the art that changes may be made without departing from the principles of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In embossing apparatus, the combination of a series of pairs of embossing rolls having embossing teeth on their peripheries, means for supporting a roll of sheet material for each of said embossing roll pairs and positioned so that the material passes between the rolls of the roll pair, and means for supporting said rolls with the teeth of the rolls of each pair intermeshing to emboss the sheet material passing between the rolls and with the roll pairs disposed in a row so that the sheet material from each subsequent pair of rolls in said series may be disposed on and in contact with the sheet material passing between the previous roll pair in the series and so that the sheet material travels in a certain path and is stacked to form a multi-ply product, each of said. rolls being provided with a series of spaced circumferential grooves in its periphery and the embossing teeth on each subsequent roll pair in said series extending at substantially different angles than the embossing teeth on the rolls of the previous roll pair in said series whereby to produce corrugation segments in the plies from the consecutive roll pairs that are disposed in diiferent patterns preventing the nesting of the corrugated plies from the consecutive roll pairs.

2. In embossing apparatus, the combination of a series of pairs of embossing rolls having embossing teeth on their peripheries, means for supporting a roll of sheet material web for each of said embossing roll pairs and positioned so that the material passes between the rolls of the roll pair, and means for supporting said rolls with the teeth of the rolls intermeshing to emboss the sheet material passing between the rolls and with the roll pairs being disposed in a row so that the sheet material from each subsequent pair of rolls in said series may be disposed on and in contact with the sheet material passing beween the previous roll pair in the series and the sheet material travels in a certain path and is stacked to form a multi-ply product, the embossing teeth on alternate ones of said roll pairs in said series extending longitudinally of the rolls and these rolls having spaced grooves in their peripheries so that the teeth are disposed in circumferential rows with the teeth of some of said rows which are adjacent to each other being staggered, the embossing teeth on the others of said rolls extending helically about the roll and each of these rolls being provided with spaced circumferential grooves in its periphery so as to provide circumferential rows of teeth on these rolls, and the alternate ones of said roll pairs in said series being so positioned with respect to each other that their rows of teeth are staggered in the direction of said path of web travel.

3. A paper product comprising a series of plies of paper Webs laid on one another to form a multi-ply product, said plies each having corrugations provided therein which are in the form of segments disposed in spaced rows extending lengthwise of the web and which extend in substantially different directions across the width of the web in alternate plies of the webs to prevent nesting of the corrugations in the alternate plies.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5/1894 Leaver 161136 4/1963 Wyatt l61-l36 

